Uustave sobotka



(No Model.) G. SOBOTKA.

' APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF SEPAEATINGr AND ASSORTING YEAST.

No. 471,689. Patented Mar. 29, 1892.

rates erries,

*ATENT GUSTAVE SOBOTKA, OF NElV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO FLEISGIIMANN & C0,,

' OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF SEPARATING AND ASSORTING YEAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part or Letters Patent No. 471,689, dated March 29,1892. Application filed August 20, 1891. Serial 110.403.204- (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

120 it known that I, GUSTAVE SOBOTKA, a subject oi the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at 213i Fifth. avenue, New York, in

the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful I mprovemcnts in Apparatus for and Method of Separating and Assorting Yeast; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in'apparatus for and method of separating and as 1 5 sorting yeast; and the object of the invention is to provide means for this purpose by which the year t may be easily and quickly separated from the beer and simultaneously assorted into different grades for subsequent treatment and use.

The invention will first be described in con nection with the accompanying drawings, and then particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference are used to denote like parts of the apparatus, Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the lowermost trough or section of the apparatus.

AA A represent several sections of a trough or chute, which are preferably arranged one above another, as indicated in Fig. 1, each 3 5 section being formed or provided with a pocket or depression, as at a a, M, at the inlet or receiving end thereof and with a similar pocket or depression, as at b 1) 0 at the outlet or delivery end thereof, as shown in said Fig. 1.

I; t 1 denote suitable pipes, which may connect the delivery ends of the uppermostscctions of the trough with the receiving ends of the succeeding sections below the same.

Said pipes enter openings in the bottoms of 5 the pockets at the exit ends of the sections of the trough, (which openings may be closed by suitable stoppers) and their lower or delivery ends extend nearly to the bottom of the pock-.

cts in the receiving or inlet ends of the lower sections for the purpose of causinga slow and easy flow of the liquid from the pocket and down the inclined section, and each section is also provided at its inlet end with a partition or wall a", which extends nearly to the bottom of the pocket and separates the same into two divisions, such partition being lo, cated in front of the delivery end of the pipe, so as to interrupt and retard the flow of the liquid and break the force of the current at this point, thereby facilitating the deposit of the yeast as the liquid flows down the slightlyinelined section.

The pockets 1) b b are provided with openings which connect by suitable pipes d with a tank or receiver for the asserted yeast, and these openings are adapted to be closed by suitable stoppers d, as shown.- The pocket I) of the lowermost section of the apparatus is also provided with a similar opening, from which a pipe E may lead to a suitable tank or vessel to receive the waste water used in washing the apparatus, the latter opening being controlled by a stopper e.

C denotes a receiver or reservoir, which is connected by means of a pipe 0 with the ten inenting-tub from which the fermented wort flows into said receiver, and the latter is provided with a depending pipef, which extends nearly to the bottom of the pocket (1. in the first section A and is provided with a regulat- 8o ing cook or valve g, by which the flow of liquid therefrom may be controlled.

For the purpose of cooling the yeast as it runs from section to section of the trough through the pipes 15,13 and B and finally into the receiver for the fermented wort or beer said pipes are incased or surrounded by pipes D D, which are provided with suitable nipples (Z for the attachment of a hose or pipe, by means of which cold water or other coolon ing medium may be caused to circulate through the several sections of pipe in contact with the pipes connecting the trough-sections, so as to cool the liquid solution as it flows from section to'section of the trough, and thereby facilitate the separation and assortment of the yeast, which will settle quickly when cool, and in this state the heavier particles or cells will be precipitated more readily and deposited in the several sections of the trough.

\Vith an apparatus constructed as shown and described the fermented wort which flows from a fermenter into the receiver 0 may be permitted to enter the first section A by opening the valve 9, and the liquid will pass from thepipefnear the bottom of the pocket under the partition a and out of the pocket onto the slightly-inclined bottom of the trough-section, along which the liquid will flow slowly and smoothly until it reaches the pocket I), at which point the flow will be retarded and the current broken. From the pocket 1) the liquid will flow down the inclined pipe 13 into the pocket (1 of section A, its movement through the pipe being slightly accelerated, and the pipe ll, being in contact with the cooling medium circulating in the pipe 1.), will cool the liquid in its passage through said. pipe.

rom this point the above operation will be,

repeated at each successive section of the trough, and the clear beer will run off into a suitable receiver from the pipe connecting with the pocket in the lower end of the-last section of the apparatus. By this means the yeastwill be caused to settle in the several sections and pockets of. the trough in different grades, the heaviest spores or cells being precipitated in the first section and the cells of less specific gravity being deposited in the succeeding pockets and sections according to their grades. \Vhenthis operation'is completed, the yeast which has settled in the several sections in different grades may be collected according to the several grades by placing suitable stoppers in the small openings leading to the pipes 1-3 B B and removing the stoppers fromthc larger openings connecting with the pipes (Z, so as to permit the thick liquid yeast to be run oflj' into suitable receptacles therefor. By replacing the stopper (1 and removing the stopper cclear water may be run through the entire apparatus and out of the pipe E for the purpose of washing and preparing the apparatus for further opera tions. t

It will be observed that the severalsections of the trough or chute form in effect a slightly-inclined surface or series of inclined surfaces connected by suitable conduits, along \VlllGll the fermented Wort or beer fiows gently and .smoothly, thereby causing the yeast-cells to be deposited in different grades in success- 1vo sections or divisions, the liquid being cooled in its passage through the pipes or conduits from one section or division of the surface to the next succeeding section, whereby the deposit of the yeast-cells is facilitated and the clear beer is run off from the yeast,

which is asserted into different grades inthe several sections or divisions of the"siirface, from wlnch it may be collected according to the several grades.

It will be understood, of course, that the several sections of the trough need not necessarily be placed one above another, but that they may be arranged side by side or in line with each other, and the general arrangement of parts may bevariedin a number of ways, which will readily suggest themselves to pet-sons skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of my invention, andhence 1 do not desire to be limited to theexact coir struction and arrangement described and shown.

Having thus described my invention, what,

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.-

1. An apparatus for separating and assorting yeast, comprising a troughor chute formed.

in sections or divisions which are connected by suitable pipes for conveying the fermented wort from section to section andv an apparatus by which a coolingmedium. may be circulated in contact with the pipes connecting the sections of the trough, substantially as described. I 1 i 2. An apparatus for separating and assorting yeast, com prisin g'atrough orchu te formed 4 in' sections or divisions arranged one above etsat the ends of thesections, of the pipe or pipes connecting'the o i'ltlet end or pocket of the first section with the inlet end or pocket of the next succeeding section and the cooling apparatus connected to said stantiall y as described.

4. In combination with the trough or chute composed of sectionsor'divisions provided 'nds thereof, the inwith pockets at the, v clined pipes connectin the several sections, the fluid-circulating pipes or casingsinelosing the pipes connecting-such sections, and the pipes connecting withsuitableopenings in the'delivery ends-"of the sections of the trough, whereby the'assorted yeast may be coll cted from the several sections of the trough according to the several grades, substantially as described.

5. The processof separating-and asserting yeast, which consists in running the fermented pi pes, sub-. 1

wort or liquid slowly and smoothly along a slightly-inclined surface or surfaces, o" s to cause the yeast-cells to be deposited--'in "dif ferent grades iii successive sections or divisions, cooling the liquid at intervals inits passage, running off the elearbeer from the yeast, and finallycolleeting the assorted yeast from the several sections of tlie'surface according to their grades, substantially asand for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I'attix mysignatu re in the presence of two witnesses.

.Witnesses: I I p 4 HENRY J. KALTENBACH, JOHN IIAMOCK.

GUSTAVE sono rmy Apparatus for and. Method of Separating and. Assorting Yeast, errors appear in the pound Word fermentinggg-tube should read fermenting-tub and in line 82, same page,

the clause returned thereto for the continuation of the should be stricken. out; and

that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record'of the casein the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 5th day of April, A. D. 1892.

[SEAL.] CYRUS BUSSEY, Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Gountersigned W. E.. SIMONDS,

Commissioner of Patents.

- It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 471,689, granted March 29,1892,

upon the application of Gustave Sobotka, of New York, N. Y., for an improverneilt in V printed specification requiring correction, as follows: In lines 75-76, page 1, the comv 

